Scanning electron microscopes (hereinafter simply referred to as an “SEM”) are widely used to observe the structures of semiconductor devices.
Along with the advances in the miniaturization of wiring lines and the stacking of devices, the number of points (parts) in an observation target where the dimensions are required to be measured and managed has been increasing. Accordingly, there have been demands for an environment where the measured length of an observation image (hereinafter referred to as an “SEM image”) acquired by the SEM can be automatically processed in large quantities in a short period of time.
To this end, it is necessary to not only provide image quality adjustment of the whole SEM image but also to provide an image quality reflecting the intention of an analyzer regarding parts that need to be analyzed in the SEM image.
However, when a large quantity of length measurements is conducted, there are slight differences in gray scale and luminance in the boundary of the structure between SEM images acquired from a complex and fine structure of the semiconductor device. Therefore, it is difficult in the present circumstances to automate the length measurement.